Stocks start the week just shy of record highs, underpinned by a well-received corporate earnings season and hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start reducing official borrowing costs again. Investors are therefore keen that Friday’s keynote address by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium will be suitably dovish.

The stock market is heading into a catalyst-filled week as Fed Chair Jerome Powell gets ready to speak at Jackson Hole and big retailers report earnings.

This week's set-piece event is the Jackson Hole central-bank gathering in Wyoming, slated for Thursday through Saturday. Investors will be glued to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech, hoping for any insight into whether the central bank might kick off interest-rate cuts in September.

London (UKX) +1.08% at 9,288.  UK's inflation rises to 3.8% in July, highest in 18 months. Germany (DAX:IND) -0.60% at 24,277. France (CAC:IND) -0.08% at 7,973. The headline annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was unchanged from the prior month at 2% in July.

The U.S. dollar was little changed on Wednesday as traders awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the annual Jackson Hole central bankers' symposium later this week for clues on the path of monetary policy.

Bitcoin traders eye Jackson Hole for potential bullish signals; Powell's speech could drive BTC price, depending on tone on rate cuts.

Bitcoin price strong rally could be nearing its end as it slowly formed a highly bearish chart pattern on the daily chart timeframe. While it is not clear

Jackson’s surface waters remain free of forever chemicals, but the Jackson Hole community as a whole is not successfully reducing bear conflicts.